St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-01-27
SAM JONES IN BOSTON.
His Introduction to a Boston Auaie

SAM JONES IN BOSTON.
His Introduction to a Boston Audience.
In the evening the preachers theme
was "The Devout Man," the scriptural
example of which he found in that pas
sage of the book of Acts which de-
scribes Cornelius the centurion, zone
that feared God with all his house.
which gave much aims to the people
and prayed to God always" Before
proceeding to open up his theme he
said bluntly:
81 want to say at this point, at this
| first service, at any moment that you
become tired or uninterested in what
is going on you may consider the ben
ediction pronounced as far as you are
concerned and you may go home. /
don't think we would have missed you
if you hadn't come at all tonight and
you may consider yourself of so little
Importance that you wont be missed
if you get enough and leave before the
benedictiOn is pronounced. | want
| you to come when you please, stay as
long as you please, and go away when
you please. shall preach, under God,
as long as | please, and quit when
please. l know from practical expert
ence that it is a mighty hard matter to
talk sense for half an hour and not
have some Ounce in the audience. Now
let us be prayerful, l don't say let us
be solemn. | don't think that is essen
tial to worship at all. My conception
of the house of God and the worship
of God in that house is very different
from some peoples opiniOnA If L
have paid all my just debts and treat
ed all men squarely, L will wear a
smile to- night, as heaven is my Fa-
theirs house. But if | have wronged
the widow and lived dishonesty, am
going to look solemn. | don't say feel
solemn or look solemn, but let us be
earnest let us be prayerful."
Taking up the subject matter of the
text Mr.. Jones said:
The first century of the Christian
era produced some of the most remark
able characters of the worlds history,
and conspicuous among them was the
Centurion of whom the text speaks.
And after all, brethren, character out
ranks everything. Reputation is like
a glove. may put it on or off at
pleasure. | may rend it or throw it
away. | have lost but little. But
character is the hand itself, and when
once it is SCARED it is SCARED forever.
Character is that part of me which
shall live beyond the stars. Character
is that immortal part of you, brother,
which shall make you fit associate
for God and the angels, or shall make
you Il fit associate for the wicked and
damned. When a man has got more
religion than he has sense, call him a
fool when he has got more sense than
he has religion he is liable to be ras-
cal. What is wanted is an equipOise
between sense and religion /; this will
make level headed Christian. | have
been called crank, an enthusiast and
a fanatic. L am willing they should
pile on the epithets. If to believe all
that is contained in the Bible from lid
to lid is true, is to be crank, enthu-
siast or fanatic, | shall gladly wear
these epithets of derisiOn and shall
cast them at my Saviour's feet as
proofs of my fidelity.
| stand here tonight stranger, but
will say this much l stand on the
ten commandments and the sermon on
the mount. Every man, woman and
child in this city who does that is go
ing to agree with me- and | tell ev
cry Christian in this city that [ am
going to say all | can in favor of these
two things, and not Il word against
them. If there is anything | despise
it is dull time. / like to see things
move up. Now, it is said of Cornelius
that ale feared God with all his
house." You see as soon as man be-
comes thoroughly saturated with God
it begins to take hold of his family.
And let me say, first l gave myself to
God, after which | was in position to
do something for and with my family.
No mother can give her children to
God until she first gives herself to
God. 1t isn't pushing my family into
the kingdom of heaven, but taking
them by the hand and leading them
there.
They accuse me of being an evange-
list. l am no evangelist, but l have
been engaged in evangelistic work
and | want to say that revivals are not
the best things in the world. They
are necessary, but it is a sad state Of
things that make them so. There is
many a good old man and woman who
thinks the preacher ought to keep the
thing warm all the time and run sort
of perennial revival. God pity the
people that will pack the minister in
an ice box, and then curse him because
he don't sweat! The power of the
pulpit is with the pews, and we'll new
er be what God wants us to be until
revivals are unnecessary.
A young lady told me two or three
years ago: "My father don't believe in
revivals."
"Well," said l, che and the devil
are together on that; don't know
how they stand on other things"
If there's anything in this universe
the devil don't like, it's Il good big re-
vival where thousands are being
brought to God. We will never reach
the normal Christian condition until
the home is Christianized, and the
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